Heat-insulating wall



Patented Feb. 2 8, 1928.

UNITED STATES" 1,660,916 PATENT OFFICE.

MAURICE L. BULLARD, OF RUTHERFORD, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO P. SQTHORSEN 8c COMPANY, INC., 0]? BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

HEAT-INSULATING WALL.

Application filed July 9, 1924. Serial No. 725,040.

My present invention relates to heatinsulating walls, and particularly to such a wall which, while made up principally of any of the usual heat'insulators, will nevera section of a typical form of wall embodying my invention, and in Fig. 2 a front elevation of a portion of such a wall, with the coating material removed from a portion thereof.

Like reference characters parts in the different views.

Inthe form illustrated, the wall is com.- posed vprimarily of'blocks of insulating material, such as compressed comminuted cork, asbestos compressed into. blocks, or magnesia, held together by any suitable fibre. A row of wooden strips 10 is first set up temporarily where the wall is to be erected indicate like and: a layer 11 of-blocks of the insulating material referred to is laid up against the strips 10, as shown best at the right-hand portion of Fig. 1. The strips 10 are tacked temporarily, if necessary, to hold them in place. Then a layer 12 of emulsified asphalt is laid over the surfaces of the blocks 11,

adhering not only to the surfaces of the blocks, but entering the spaces between the blocks themselves. It will be understood that emulsified asphalt is asphalt which has been reduced to a condition in which it may be mixed with water and applied in a plastic state while cold. Emulsified asphalt A may beformed in several well-known ways,

as by breaking up pure asphaltinto minute particles and, at the same time, mixing it with water and a small percentage of a colloidal clay. It may .also be emulsified with soap. When thus'emulsified, the asphalt is free from; the solvents ordinarily used as a cut-back and is plastic at room temperatures until -the water is permitted to evaporate. It may be made quite fluid so that it may be applied cold (that is, at ordinary room temperatures) and, because of its relativefluidit-y, the asphalt will flow into very small openings and even into the surface pores of such material as magnesia and the like, ordinarily used .as' heat insulators.

emulsifying agent, such as clay or soap being relatively small. Yet it' can be applied to cold and even wet surfaces readily, as ordinary asphalt cannot be. v case, the ordinary asphalt must be heated to a relatively high temperature in order to make it fluid and, of course, as soon as it contacts with a cold surface, the asphalt next to such surface chills and will not flow into the interstices of the surface and there fore will not adhere to any effective degree. If ordinary asphalt is cut-back with solvents to make it fluid, then such solvents destroy many of the desirable qualities of I the asphalt and the solvents themselvesare objectionable. Moreover, ordinary asphalt is highly inflammable, whereas emulsified In the latter but one which is elastic so that the surface on which it is laid may be considerably distorted without breaking the-surface of the hardened asphalt. Preferably the layer 12 is made of this emulsified asphalt without mixing therewith any other material, suchas sand or fibre. V t

Then a second layerof blocks 13 is set up against the blocks 11 and is adhered thereto by the layer of asphalt 12. Preferably the blocks 13 are set up so as to break joints with the blocks 11.-'

Then a layer 14: of emulsified, asphalt is spread over the entire surface of the wall, in

the illustrative form, this layer preferably being made up of such 'asphaltmixed with asbestos fibre and sand, preferably by acid ing to one volume of emulsified asphalt onehalf volume of asbestos fibre and thoroughly incorporating the fibre and the asphalt and then adding from one to two volumes of sand to one volume of this latter mixture of asphalt and fibre,'the sand to be added according to the degree of hardnessdesired.

The number of layers of insulating blocks may be as'many as desired and in such cases, the successive layers would be connected referablyby means of a layer of'emulsified asphalt alone, while the outer layer or Surface of the wall would be preferably made up of the emulsified asphalt mixed with fibre'and sand. I

a If desired, and as will usually be the case, the other. wall surface will be coated with a layer 15 of asphalt and hardening material similar to the coating 14, but before this isapplied, the temporary s pports will be removed and the rear surface ofthe wall then coated with a layer 15.

With the wall thus formed, the surfaces 14 and 15 are hard and durable and yet'waterproof and will protect the more or less fri-.

able insulating material forming the main portion of the wall. The layer 12 connecting the insulating blocks will cause the two layers to adhere and, at the sametime, will serve to seal the joints between the insulating blocks, as will also thesurface coatings 14 and 15. By not placing fibre and sand in the layer 12, a better composition is had for causing the two layers of insulation to adhere to each other. I I

lhe asphalt layers are sufficiently elastic so that while adhering to the surfaces of the insulating blocks, they nevertheless will yield '.as the wall expands and contracts under changing heat conditions, which particularly are apt to arise in refrigeratin rooms or the like for which my novel wall 1s particularly adapted. At the same time, the cracks between the blocks, as well as any cracks which may develop in such blocks, are maintained sealed under all conditions and, as is well understood, this is an important element in heat insulation; that is, it is important that air shall not, befree to pass through the insulating body.

While I have described my wall as formed of blocks, ,it will be understood that it may be built up in any other. suitable manner and that even when it is built of blocks, there will always be portions, such as whereone wall joins another or where'electrical in lets are inserted, or'the like, in which it will be necessary to fill in spaces with the insulating material in more or less broken condition. With my invention this may be done, as will be understood, because broken insulating material will-be covered with the layers 14 and 15 and be held in place. It should be understood, therefore, that when I describe my wall as made up of blocks, I mean to include therein any such casual portions as may be made up of relatively small pieces of insulation. Moreover, it will be understood that some of the features of my invention may be obtained by building the wall of insulating material in other than block form and then covering this .wall with a layer of emulsified asphalt as described. In any or allof these forms, the advantages of my invention are obtained; that isto say,

the more or less porous and friable insulating material is covered with a substantially air tight and waterproof coating which is elastic enough to respond to considerable changes in the main portion of the wall without cracking and which, at the same time, may be made sufliciently hard on the external surface of the wall to resist any ordinary abra'sion. The coating is closely adhering and substantially inseparable from the surface of the insulating material and will not melt and run under high heat.

I claim:

1. A wall comprising an inner portion of a relatively rigid heat insulating material and a layer of hardened emulsified asphalt on each of the outer surfaces of said material and substantially inseparably adhering thereto.

2. A wall -comprising an inner portion of blocks of. relatively rigid heat insulating material, positioned edge to edge with'such edges generally in contact, and a layer of hardened emulsified asphalt on each of the outer surfaces of said material and substantially inseparably adhering thereto and covering the spaces between said blocks.

. 3. A wall comprising an inner portion of blocks .of relatively rigid heat insulating material in a plurality of layers, with the edges of the blocks in each layer edge to edge with such edges generally in contact, a coating of emulsified asphalt between said layers and .a layer of hardened emulsified asphalt on each of the outer surfaces of said material and substantially inseparably adhering thereto andcovering the spaces'between said blocks, the asphalt between said material in a plurality of layers, a coating of emulsified asphalt between said layers, and a layer of a hardened mixture of emulsified asphalt and sand on each of the outer surfaces of said material and substantially inseparably adhering thereto and covering lot the spaces between said blocks, the asphalt between said layers being the only connecting means between said layers.

4 5. wall comprising an lnner'portion of a relatively rigid heat insulating material and a layer of a hardened mixture of emulsified asphalt and sand on each of the outer sun-N faces of saidmaterial. andsubstantially in separably adhering thereto.

6. A wall comprising blocks of'relatively rigid heat insulating material and a layer of hardened emulsified asphalt on the outer surface of said material and substantially inseparably adhering thereto and covering the spaces between the blocks.

7. A wall comprising an inner portion of porous and friable insulating material, and

emulsified asphalt substantially insepa'rably adhering to said material.

8. The method of forming a heat-insulating wall which includes building a wall of blocks of relatively rigid, friable heatinsulating material With nobinding material between the blocks, and then, while the surfacesof the wall are at atmospheric temperatures applying a fluid coating of emul sified asphalt to the inner and outer surfaces of the wall and forcing the asphalt into the surface pores of the insulating material and into any cracks between the blocks.

9; The method of forming a heat-insulating wall which includes building a wall of blocks of relatively rigid, friable heatinsulating material wit-h no binding material between the blocks, then, while the surfaces of the wall are at atmospheric temperatures, applying a fluid coating of emulsified asphalt to the inner and outer surfaces of the Wall and forcing the asphalt into the surface pores of the insulating material and intoany cracks between the blocks, and then, before the asphalt hardens, building a second wall of blocks of relatively rigid, friable heat-insulating material with one of its surfaces in contact with the layer of asphalt on one of the surfaces of the first wall to cause the second wall to adhere to said layer.

MAURICE L. BULLARD. 

